How to Ensure Responsible Security Contracting

Government officials increasingly rely on private security companies to police public facilities. But in the absence of national mechanisms of accountability, who will police the security companies? Ultimately this responsibility falls to the government officials who hire the security companies.

When hiring security contractors, public officials expect reliable performance, trustworthy owners and executives, and experienced, well-trained and fairly compensated security officers. Currently, many contractors in the private security industry fail to consistently meet these goals. This means that low-bid security contractors with records of performance failures, financial mismanagement and executive malfeasance consistently bid on lucrative government contracts – putting taxpayer dollars and public safety at risk.

Stand For Security’s guide, called “Three Steps to Ensure Responsible Security Contracting in the Public Sector,” gives government officials the tools they need
to rigorously screen and track the business practices of security contractors. It is important to use these tools in order to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used to deliver the highest quality security services at the best value.

One key step to ensuring responsible contracting is requiring bidders to complete a questionnaire about their company’s history and current status. SEIU’s model questionnaire provides government officials with examples of the types of questions they should ask contractors during the bidding process.